WEAK CME IMPACT AND GEOMAGNETIC STORM: A CME hit Earth's magnetic field on Oct. 31st at ~10:00 UT. The impact was weak--a far cry from the "big hit" we expected--and it sparked an equally weak G1-class geomagnetic storm.
In Alberta, Canada, photographer Harlan Thomas stayed up all night waiting for the predicted strong geomagnetic storm. Instead, he caught this lesser display just before sunrise over icy Dewitt Pond:
"It was a short-lived event," says Thomas. "The auroras were active and battled the twilight until about 45 minutes before the sun came up."
In summary, the Halloween Storm of 2021 was more trick than treat. What happened? It's possible that the bulk of the Oct. 28th CME simply missed our planet. The source of the CME, sunspot AR2887, is located in the sun's southern hemisphere. When it exploded 3 days ago, much of the debris flew south of the sun-Earth line. Computer models suggesting a direct hit apparently gave too little weight to the CME's assymetry.
Hey, it happens! Space weather forecasting is a probabilistic activity beset by the unknowns of storms that get started 93 million miles away from Earth and glide for days invisibly through the near vacuum of interplanetary space before they spring upon us with little warning. Maybe next time... Solar flare alerts: SMS Text.
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STAR TREK WINE STOPPER: It's the most far-out wine stopper ever! On Sept. 9, 2021, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus launched the USS Enterprise to the stratosphere onboard a cosmic ray research balloon. Here is the starship-shaped stopper floating 105,563 feet above the rugged Sierra Nevada mountains of central California:
You can have it for $119.95. The students are selling these must-have bar accessories to support their cosmic ray research program. Each one comes with a greeting card showing the stopper in flight, telling the story of its trip to the edge of space and back again.
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